Still and all, why bother? Here's my answer. Many people need desperately to receive this message: I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone. --Vonnegut

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Powell Claims He Tried to Talk Bush out of Invading

The former American secretary of state Colin Powell has revealed that he spent 2 and a half hours vainly trying to persuade President George W Bush not to invade Iraq and believes today’s conflict cannot be resolved by US forces.

"I tried to avoid this war," Powell said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado. "I took him through the consequences of going into an Arab country and becoming the occupiers."

Powell has become increasingly outspoken about the level of violence in Iraq, which he believes is in a state of civil war. "The civil war will ultimately be resolved by a test of arms," he said. "It's not going to be pretty to watch, but I don’t know any way to avoid it. It is happening now."

He added: "It is not a civil war that can be put down or solved by the armed forces of the United States." All the military could do, Powell suggested, was put "a heavier lid on this pot of boiling sectarian stew".

Prior to the Iraq fiasco, I had a lot of respect for Powell. I think a lot of people did. He seemed like a patriot and a rational man with integrity. I thought he would have trounced the field if he had run for president in 2000.

But when we needed him the most, he chickened out and did the wrong thing. He didn't just refrain from speaking out publicly, but went to bat for Bush at the U.N., lending his credibility to the case for war. His duty was to the country, not to George W. Bush. This isn't a freaking monarchy.

3 comments:

Hum, " isn't a "freaking monarchy" interesting choice of words. Oddly enough I'm a citizen of a monarchy and when your Dub'ya try pressuring us into joining his coalition of the dumb asses. We basically said " not a chance in hell they're Georgie boy". Even funnier thing is that our " Queenie's" country somehow got suckered into diving headfirst into the quagmire with you guys.

On a sidenote as a Canadian currently gracing your lovely country I've got to tell you that the term "patriot" doesn't play all that well outside of Fortress Bush (not to be confused with a chaste virgin). Pretty much everyone I know in the real, oops, I mean rest of the world seems to think the term comes off as arrogant and ignorant. But then again all of that's probably just rooted in our misguided hatred for your "freedom".

LOL JK! Well kind of!

Seriously though interesting post and for the record I myself like Mr. Powell a lot. I just figured that he was between a rock and a rectal probe on the whole Saddam weapons of mass distraction Iraq war thing. I mean your country isn't known for its tolerance of dissent these past few years. After all with slogans like " you're either with us or against us" what's a boy like Powell to do?